I agree with @CurtisCummings, are you using a v-carve toolpath? It really looks like you are cutting on the line.
@CurtisCummings: I think I need to clarify my last post. I used Easel to create a separate design with the same depth and cut parameters as I had been using in the v-carve design. The only difference between the two was that Easel didnât have the Helvetica font I used in Vcarve so I substituted the Baskerville font. This cut was done strictly with Easel. No Vcarve involved.
The photo of the bad 11-hour Easel cut is below.
@PhilJohnson: Thanks! Iâll check out the videos.
The tension on the belts had already been set using a digital fishing scale; although I had set them at approximately 2.5 lbs. Others posts had said the tension needed to be set so that the belts would âtwangâ like a guitar string, and since I play guitar, 2.5lbs seemed about right. I will, however, try adjusting them tighter to the 4.65 lbs you suggest.
The pots are (and have been for all my attempted carves) adjusted to just under 2 volts for my NEMA 23 steppers.
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I think there is some confusion to using V-Carve and generating a v-carve toolpath. V-Carve has the ability (Easel does not) to v-carve the text. This type of carve uses a pointy v-bit and does more then just cut on the lines. V-carving moves along the vectors and raises and lowers the bit to cut out in a 3-d type appearance. Cutting along the vectors just cuts a line with no deviation of depth. Try generating a toolpath using V-Carveâs v-carve capability, you will probably be impressed with the results.
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@ErikJenkins. To the best of my knowledge I have been doing exactly what you suggest. This plaque has four toolpaths. Threee of them are V-Carve / Engraving toolpaths. âTrexOakBorderâ for the border, and âTrexOakTextâ for the text, âTrexOakFlowersâ for the flowers. The fourth toolpath is a Drill path for the holes in each corner.
The V-Carve / Engraving toolpaths are all set to a flat depth of 0.05".
Each of the toolpaths is saved, imported into Easel one at a time, and cut. The preview image of what the cut is supposed to look like is below.
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First off get rid of the flat depth. I never use it for what your doing. I donât know what that boarder is. But try this. Build your boarder using the square with the offset feature. You can âinsetâ your corners when you make your square. Then when you offset it make it a 1/4 " or so away. Then select both vectors for your VCarve toolpath. Donât use a flat depth. I suggest you use a 1/2" 60deg Vbit for what your doing. That border should take about 3 minutes to carve. 11 hours for what your doing is severely wrong. Something is very off lol.
Iâm aware of that. What I donât know is what that âtraxâ boarder is that heâs talking about. And why itâs taking so long to carve it. I did a Copy bitmap v carve once that tried doing some weird stuff. But building his boarder with the process I described should be a straight line carve. And why heâs trying to do it with such a small but when a 60 deg will give him the detail heâs looking for. You
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Can you upload your crv file so We can see what you have going on.
@CurtisCummings: Hereâs the .crv file.
TrexOak1.crv (2.5 MB)
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@PhilJohnson: That photo was of an earlier cut. Iâm getting a good border now. My only remaining problem is with the small text cut.
The problem with that earlier border was that I had the depth of cut set to 1/8". That was too deep for the machine to cut with the 90 degree v-bit on a single pass. I guess the stepper motors just didnât have enough torque to drive through that curve.
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@CurtisCummings: Except for using a flat depth, and using a 90 degree v-bit rather than a 60 degree, I did exactly what you suggested. And the border cut does only take about three minutes.
It was the copy of the design created with Easel (not V-Carve Pro) that took 11 hours to try and cut just the text.
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Have you tried to just sent the code from Vcarve to UGS and run? Just wondering.
Yes Iâm looking at it now. Iâm not finding a reason itâs taking so long. Aspire says minute for the boarder and flowers. And 2 hours for the text. At 30ipm that sounds reasonable. Do you have a 60deg .5?
The 90 for the boarder is good. Its the 30 for all that text. A 60 x.5 will do a much better and faster job. I rarely use a flat depth. And when i do ill use a clearance tool.
Not yet. Right now I really donât have any other way to send the Vcarve to the X-carve other than via Easel.
I have a 60 degree 0.5 inch vbit. But I tried using it to carve the text a week or so ago and got lousy results with a lot of detail tear-out. The cut quality improved a lot when I switched to the 30 degree engraving bit even though it does take quite a bit longer to carve. And Iâll take quality over speed any time.
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I would try UGS nightly build: UGS LINK its free but you have to have JAVA on your computer also. Lots of folks use this without issue. Might want to check it out.
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Absolutely quality over speed.
@RobertCanning: To answer your question, here is a screenshot of the toolpath settings for the text cut. At the top of the toolpath menu on the right it says âVCarve/Engraving Toolpathâ. So thatâs how Iâve been refering to it.
As to doing a sign for Trex, yes, wood. But itâs not for Trex. Itâs a gift for Care-A-Lot from my Master Gardener group and the sign is to be attached to a wooden bench. If I were less of a noob on X-carve, I might make it out of a more weatherproof material (like metal) since itâs going to be outside. But as you can see, itâs become somewhat of a challenge to even get it cut from wood. Learning to do engraving cuts on metal is on my to-do list for later.